Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis: 'I would love a cameo role in CSI'

The actor gives his favourite TV, film, books and music picks

Charlotte Cripps
Friday 14 March 2014 12:02 GMT
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Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis
Only Fools and Horses actor John Challis

Television

I’m an avid fan of Channel 5’s US crime thrillers CSI, NCIS, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Person of Interest because I think they are well-crafted, pacy and slick and the actors are all first class.

I would kill for a cameo part in any of them! I love the surreal humour of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer’s House Of Fools.

Films

I watched 12 Years A Slave last week in Ludlow and you could have heard a pin drop. I think everyone was shocked by the brutality and it was very dark and powerful with outstanding performances from everyone.

Books

I have six books by Lee Child on my bedside table, all read thoroughly and sometimes twice over; all the adventures of our hero Jack Reacher. He’s over six feet tall and should have been played on screen by Jim Cavaziel, not the diminutive Tom Cruise. I devour any books about cricket and love the actor Michael Simkin’s charming account of his experiences, titled Fatty Batter.

Music

I have an eclectic taste in music, but basically I’m an old rocker at heart. I love the blues and the raw energy of the early Rolling Stones. Then I have to admit to a fondness for Abba and “Thank You For The Music”, which always brings a tear to the eye. Surely every man loved those beautiful girls Agnetha and Frida!

John Challis’s two part autobiography ‘Being Boycie’ and ‘Boycie and Beyond’ as well as his debut novel ‘Reggie: A Stag at Bay’ are all out now (wigmorebooks.com)

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